


Happy Home

by IBoatedHere



Series: Post Bleachers: Domestic Bliss [1]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Apartment hunting, Domestic Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 19:18:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6163753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IBoatedHere/pseuds/IBoatedHere
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The boys go apartment hunting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Happy Home

**Author's Note:**

> Sequels to Meet Me Under The Bleachers.

“Let me,” Ben grabs the bill from the waiter before Caleb can. 

Caleb plucks it out of his fingers. “You have even less money than I do.”

“Yes,” Ben grabs it back. “But technically you're homeless right now so that’s two strikes against you.”” 

“And whose fault is that? You shoot down every apartment I bring up.” 

Caleb has been back for a month and a half, his belongings split equally between the jeep and Ben’s dorm room. 

Ben has taken it on himself to find Caleb the perfect apartment. He spends hours combing through Zillow and Realtor.com.

Caleb has been doing his own research too, circling ads in the newspaper with a red pen and showing them to Ben who then looks them up, analyzes them, criticizes them, and offers some trivial reason why Caleb should pass on it. 

(“I don't like the wallpaper.” 

“Oh my god, you're like one of those people on House Hunters that doesn't like the place because they don't like the color of the paint on the wall. Paint over it, lady.” 

“Wallpaper is a lot more work.” 

“Well in addition to being homeless I am also unemployed so I have time.” 

“We can go look if you want but I'm telling you it's not right.”

“Looks haunted.” 

“Look how small the kitchen is.”

“You’re awfully concerned about the size of a kitchen for a guy that only have one jar of peanut butter and half a dozen cans of Coke in his mini fridge.”

“It looks like the you can’t have the fridge open at the same time you’d have the oven door open.”)

Ben pulls out his wallet and pulls out his debit card. 

“I don’t think any of them are good enough for you.”

“I can’t crash at your place forever, Ben. Summer is coming and I can’t stay here without you.”

“You can come home with me.”

“I’m sure your dad would love that. I have to find my own place.”

“I know. It’s just….I just got you back and if you move out-.”

“I’m not leaving again.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I believe you when you tell me things. I trust you. You wanted to come home.”

“To you.”

“I want you to have a nice home. You deserve it.”

“Home is with you. It doesn't matter what the wall color is or how big the bathroom is or if there’s on or off street parking. I got you. That’s enough.”

Ben’s expression is soft and fond and he cradles Caleb’s face in his hand, thumb rubbing back and forth on his cheek. “That’s very sweet but you’re going to want off street parking. We get parking bans at the first drop of snow. If you want a ticket that’s up to you.”

Ben gives a little. Over the next few weeks they see dozens of apartments. Caleb thinks they're all satisfactory. There's a door and at least one window. They all have electricity and a working toilet.

“Your standards are too low.” 

“This is more than I had 90% of the time while I was in Europe.”

“You were backpacking. Now you're looking for a place to live. There’s a difference.”

******

Caleb keeps sleeping in Ben's dorm. 

They have to squeeze together on Ben’s twin sized bed. Ben wakes up with his nose pressed against the back of Caleb’s neck and his cold toes against his shins. 

Caleb doesn’t stir as Ben gets dressed. It’s only when Ben leans in and kisses his forehead does Caleb stretch out, arching his back like a cat and wrapping his hand around the back of his neck to pull him down for a real kiss. 

“I’ll be back for dinner.”

“Okay, love you,” Caleb tells him before he buries his face back into the pillow. 

******

“I found it.”

Caleb doesn't look up from the newspaper. “Found what.”

“Your apartment. I found it. It's perfect and we have an appointment to go look at it in ten minutes so get your shoes on.” 

******

“Look, look,” Ben spins around in the apartment. His sneakers squeaking against the floor. “Hardwood floors, great view, close to campus, two bedrooms,” Ben flies from one side of the apartment to the other. 

“Why do we need two bedrooms?” 

“What if your parents come to visit? What if we have a disagreement and I kick you out of bed. You won't have to sleep on the couch.” 

“What if I kick you out?” 

“The possibilities are endless, Caleb.”

Caleb laughs and Ben feels like he has him hooked. 

“Look at the kitchen; everything is stainless and there's an island.” 

“It seems big.”

“It is big.”

“But it's only me and someday you.” 

Ben smiles and ducks his head. 

“How much is it?”

“Well.”

“Should I sit down?”

“900 a month.” 

Caleb whistles and Ben’s got his hands wrapped around his wrists.

“I know it sounds like a lot but it’s so worth it. You’ll get a job no problem, you’re good at everything and you’re not picky.”

“Thanks.”

“I meant that as a compliment. You find the best in any situation even when you think the situation is total shit. You’ll be fine. Do you like the apartment?”

“Do you?”

“I love it. I think it's perfect for you. I can really see you living here.”

“Can you see yourself living here?”

“Absolutely.”

“Were you just looking for a nice place for you to live?”

“Hey, no,” Ben steps close, suddenly serious. He wraps his fingers around Caleb’s wrists and holds them up to his chest. “I would’ve lived with you in any of those apartment. Even the haunted one. I didn’t want you to have to settle. This place is really nice. I know it’s expensive and it might seem like too much right now but this is the kind of place you really grow with.”

“Did they teach you how to do sappy, motivational speeches at Yale?”

“It’s a godgiven gift, Caleb. I’m serious. I’d move in with you tomorrow if I thought it was the right time for us.”

“I can swing the rent on my own for a little while.”

“So you’re going to get it?”

Caleb signs the lease in the morning.


End file.
